It’s JUNK if:

It’s moldy, mildew, stinky and growing spores

It’s broken or obsolete (and fixing it doesn’t make sense or is too costly)

You’ve outgrown it (physically or emotionally)

You’ve always hated it anyway

It’s the wrong color, wrong size, wrong style

Using it takes more time than its worth

You won’t really care if you ever see it again

It generates anger, bad memories or bad feelings

You have to clean it, store it, and insure it (but you don’t use it)

Storing it somewhere else would cost more than its worth

It will horrify, bore or burden your kids or the generation to come

If you can truthfully agree to one or more of these, it’s most likely junk. Do yourself, the people you live with, friends who visit and posterity a favor…get rid of it! It’s robbing you (and probably several other people) of space and mental clarity.

It’s not JUNK if:

It helps you make a living

It will do something you need done

It generates happiness, good memories and good feelings

It has high or significant cash value

It gives you more than it takes

It will enrich or delight your kids or the coming generation

If you can agree to several of the above without hesitation, it’s most likely good stuff. Enjoy, appreciate, take care of, and be sure to use it. You don’t need to re-assess its JUNKi-ness until next year.

Resources for consigning, selling, trading, donating and recycling your unwanted furniture, clothing, housewares and more can be found HERE.

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Isabella Guajardo, a.k.a. Girl With A Truck™, is a professional home organizer and a member of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Profressionals (NAPO). She travels in her truck to work with clients throughout the greater San Francisco Bay Area while sharing simple and creative ways to stay organized while reducing, recycling and re-purposing.

Call (510) 229-7321 to schedule a complimentary telephone assessment.

10 Tips for Reducing Holiday Waste + Holiday Gift Ideas:

1. Visit a local thrift store or reuse center for creative holiday gift wrap and decorations.

Check out places such as the East Bay Center for Creative Reuse in Oakland, California for fun holiday decorations and creative gift wrap ideas & supplies that were once loved and are ready for another round.

2. Reuse gift wrap & packing or mailing materials.

When unwrapped carefully, gift wrap can be used more than once. You can also reuse and repurpose delivery boxes and packing materials. If you don’t regularly receive packages yourself, go onto your local Nextdoor.com and check around for unwanted packing or mailing boxes and materials.

3. Make a phone call.

Instead of buying cards, stamps and taking time to write and mail notes each year, make a quick telephone call to friends and loved ones to wish them a happy holiday. Save paper, a stamp, and rediscover why they’re special in the first place.

4. Compost holiday food leftovers.

It’s easy and turns into great fertilizer. Most outdoor green waste bins are also for food compost. Here is a recycling and composting guide for Alameda County residents living in the San Francisco Bay Area, California. Check with your local waste management department for more information if you are not within Alameda County.

5. Wrap creatively.

Use newspaper, old maps, pages from your college notebook (it’s about time you let them go,) fabric scraps, cereal boxes. It’s finally cool to reuse and recycle.

6. Give the gift of time or talent.

Make your own gift certificates and offer a personal or professional skill.

7. Keep it simple and useful.

Prevent your gifts from being re-gifted! Give a gift card to their favorite market or restaurant, or a pre-paid cash card and let them choose exactly what they want from wherever. They will think of you every time they use it.

8. Service-based gifts create less waste than product-based gifts.

Very few people want to clean or organize their own home and would prefer someone else to do it. Give your child and their room or your partner or friend and their clutter a gift certificate for a professional Bella Organizing half or full-day organizing session. Call (510) 229-7321 for more information and ideas on how to pick a gift card amount for the services they would appreciate.

9. Plan previously-loved or homemade exchanges.

Set up a swap with friends, family or co-workers with a focus on re-use, re-purposing or homemade gifts: used books, a garden plant in a tin can, COOKIES!

10. Bring out the fancy dinnerware.

Yes, this is the time. Do not be afraid to use the nice dishes, glasses and inherited silverware instead of disposable ware. Otherwise, why are you keeping it around?

Isabella Guajardo, also known as Girl With A Truck™, is a professional home organizer and a member of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals (NAPO). Based in Oakland, California, she travels in her truck to work with clients throughout the SF Bay Area, sharing simple and creative ways to stay organized while reducing, recycling and re-purposing. Join Bella Organizing on Facebook and Instagram. Gift certificates are available.

Call (510) 229-7321 to schedule a complimentary telephone consultation.

When is it Junk?

It’s JUNK if: